How the Falcon Heavy could revolutionize exploration of the ocean worlds

Smaller, cheaper missions could fly faster and more often

There has been a lot of discussion regarding the ability of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket to carry big things into space. But the Falcon Heavy is not just for big things, it can also throw light things into space very fast. And that has significant implications for the exploration of heretofore hard-to-reach places in our outer solar system—particularly the ocean moons of the giant planets.

In fact, the Falcon Heavy is perfectly suited to support a whole new program of frequent, low-cost outer planet missions by the very fact that it is a new rocket.

NASA has a certification process that limits the types of rockets it will consider for different classes of missions. The more important a mission is, the higher the degree of certification required by NASA. Multi-billion dollar science missions are not certified for launch on the Falcon 9—much less the Falcon Heavy—and generally are limited to the Atlas V or Delta IV rockets. The Falcon 9 is currently only certified to launch lower-priority science missions.

If SpaceX wants to get the Falcon Heavy certified for NASA's most important missions, that will take time, particularly since it is likely to fly less frequently than the Falcon 9. It will be easier to get certified for smaller, cheaper missions initially.

SpaceX

The Falcon Heavy in flight

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy during its first demonstration flight on February 6th, 2018.

This actually provides an interesting constraint: in order to launch science missions on the Falcon Heavy, they will have to be cheaper, relatively speaking. And generally, the cheaper a spacecraft is, the smaller it is. The smaller it is, the faster it can be sent into the outer solar system, with the potential to significantly reduce the time required to reach its destination.

In the first decade of the 21st century, NASA's Mars Exploration Program had a program called Mars Scout, which was intended to provide frequent, low-cost mission opportunities to the Red Planet. The idea was that this would allow NASA to react quickly to new scientific discoveries by allowing scientists and industry to propose mission concepts to follow on new discoveries and hypotheses from its other, more expensive missions.

The outer solar system has never had a similar program for a variety of reasons, with one being the length of time required to reach the destinations themselves. It's hard to have a reactive, high-cadence series of small missions when it takes a decade to reach a target and return data. Since they are infrequent, missions to the outer planets have tended to be very expensive in order to accommodate as much science in one shot as possible. There are also additional complexities for operating in deep space, particularly if the spacecraft depend on Plutonium-238 for energy.

Some of these other constraints are changing. Juno is the first spacecraft to operate at Jupiter using solar panels. It will be followed up by the Europa Clipper and ESA's JUICE mission—both with solar panels instead of plutonium. In the previous low-cost Discovery competition, multiple missions were proposed to the Jupiter and Saturn systems using solar panels within a cost-cap of less than $500 million. So we know that there are feasible proposals already out there with proven technology that avoids the cost and complexities associated with radioactive power sources.

NASA / JPL / SSI / Thomas Romer / Gordan Ugarkovic

A Moon Through the Plumes

On May 18, 2010, as Cassini approached for its 11th targeted flyby of Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus, it stared directly toward the little moon's active south polar geysers. Three of the geysers can be seen here, backlit by the Sun; the lumpy curve of Enceladus' furrowed surface is at the bottom of the photo.

Assuming the cost of a Falcon Heavy is similar to that of an Atlas 5 (NASA pays more than the listed price for SpaceX rockets due to additional launch assurance requirements), the theoretical cost of a small-class outer planet mission would be similar to that of a Discovery mission, but with a timeline of data return more similar to that of Mars Scout. Since there would be many missions over time, the pressure to ornament each spacecraft with every possible scientific instrument would drop, helping to minimize complexity and keep costs down.

So don't get hung up on the "Heavy" part of the Falcon Heavy. If it is as affordable as Musk claims, it could be the spark that lights the flame behind a fleet of smaller missions that would usher in a new era of solar system exploration.

Comments & Sharing

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Comments

Kevin: 2018/02/08 06:25 CST

I'm confused by NASAs known history of budget issues with Mr.Musks $90mil cost for FH. I don't pretend to understand launch certifications but if NASA wants to move forward with missions, wouldn't it behoove them to entertain the lowest bidder? Cost overruns plague any budget, if reusable spacecraft are to be the new norm then maybe the playbook needs a revision. I appreciate the blog and space policy edition, the info you and your colleagues convey is constructive and informative, ty

Jonathan Ursin: 2018/02/08 07:24 CST

Perfect for the Enceladus Life Finder mission.

BillinGlendale: 2018/02/08 07:42 CST

Cost isn't that different from the workhorse Delta II, which was fine for Discovery and MIDEX missions, but it still needs several more flights to demonstrate high reliability.

Paul1: 2018/02/09 02:50 CST

Wonderful if this rapidly unfolds as described.
A "virtuous circle" with multiple feedback elements!

spacecase: 2018/02/09 03:17 CST

Just Imagine the use of large numbers of Cubesats launched at one time to explore Europa, or Titan using a Falcon 9 Heavy. Cubesat capabilities keep increasing exponentially with time. I would bet that in 5 years Cubesats could be designed to work in the high radiation environment at Jupiter or try for a splashdown on Titan. If the total mass of the Cubesat payloads was kept to < 1000 kg a direct trajectory to the outer planets might only take 1 or 2 years w/o a gravity assist. Obviously slowing down at the target would need to happen but perhaps the Cubsats will get a ion propulsion system that could do this. Imagination is needed to use this new Falcon 9 Heavy capability.

Paul1: 2018/02/10 01:03 CST

Yup, whether cubesats or larger, this whole approach of faster and cheaper is the way to go. Get the results and vary the next exploration accordingly. The current European model, where they announce a mission to launch in 2032 and arrive in 2042 eg, is, let's say, lacking in comparison.

Michael: 2018/02/10 10:38 CST

It is bad enough the defense industry has always been easy money while Human Space Flight Beyond Earth Orbit (HSF-BEO) is hard money and thus not pursued. What adds insult to injury is a space agency as a divided house with some fighting for funding science missions and considering HSF a waste while others consider HSF as the only thing that matters. The very worst thing that has ever happened to space exploration is the NewSpace movement with their Ayn-Rand-in-Space ideology. Worse than both shuttle disasters. Space advocates should consider carefully when imbibing the NewSpace Kool-Aid.
I fall into the last category and believe everything should be shelved until a self-sustaining human presence is established off world thus addressing the survival imperative. If something happens on Earth- an engineered pathogen, a comet or asteroid impact, or a supervolcano- to name the most likely causes, we could go the way of the dinosaurs. Aliens intelligent enough to effect star travel would likely consider our species too stupid to survive.
We simply have to get a viable population out there and not on Mars or any natural body. Gerard K. O'Neill, NOT Elon Musk, was and is the true prophet of space colonization.
We will continue to accomplish zero if we do not focus on the correct path.